It could be very dangerous for the McCain camp to touch this. If she is this sweet little old lady and they suggest she be deported, that would not be good for them. I think the best way for them to handle it is to not bring it up, then when asked, say something like:
“We’re sorry to hear that Senator Obama’s aunt, who he talked about in his book, is living in such dire straits. And we’re sure he’ll deal with this issue appropriately. It does bring to light, though, an important issue: illegal immigration. How many other illegal immigrants may have donated to his campaign—or ANY campaign? We need complete immigration reform, quickly. But until it’s in place, we need to secure our borders and encourage all people that have been living here under the radar to obey. This is an important issue and a big problem for America, especially at a time when our economy is trying to rebound and unemployment threatens to be on the rise. One thing that certainly doesn’t help our efforts against illegal immigration is Senator Obama’s counterproductive step to want to give driver’s licenses to people who are here illegally. I’d like to remind him that this is also a national security issue, and that 16(?) of the 19 terrorists who murdered 3,00 Americans on 9/11 were able to hide in the fabric of American society by having driver’s licenses.”
On the other hand, an effective move for Obama would be to not comment on it until McCain does and criticizes the situation. He could then say:
“I was shocked to learn that my Aunt not only had overstayed her VISA, preferring Boston to her poverty-riddled Kenya, but to learn that she has been in such dire straits. I’m glad that has been brought to my attention so that I can help her out—immediately. Of course, donations she made to help out her nephew will have to immediately be returned. But I find her support very touching. as far as to what should be done with a sweet little old lady living quietly and peacefully all these years is now the subject of much discussion, and much concern by Senator McCain. Seeing that I may not be able to 100% objective about what my Aunt should now do, or be done to her, I ask Mr. McCain for his sage advice. Should this old woman be swept up by ICE and sent back to a country that now holds so little for her? I hope he thinks there is a solution that is more compassionate than that. And not only for her, but also others who find themselves in similar circumstance. People whose only real crime was wanting a better life for themselves and realizing that America is a wonderful country that can offer them that.”
If this woman comes within 1 percent of making Obama lose the election i will have a big axe to grind with Kenyans.
Not really but it will really bug me.
Worth noting that neither campaign has any way to verify a person’s immigration status. So even if they wanted to screen donations on that basis, they could not.
Non-issue. Those who have given Obama’s temperament and policies a rigorous inspection have already decided to vote for Obama, while mental Troglodytes and racist inbreeds have already decided to vote for McCain (not including any of the McCain supporters here, of course). This will make no difference.
And McCain would be then be seen again as grumpy grandpa forgetful.
**
The 19 terrorists were legally in the USA**. The terrorists did not need U.S.-issued driver s licenses to board the planes on September 11; they had foreign passports that allowed them to do so. They could obtain driver’s licenses legally. Getting a driver’s license was not very important for the final act, they did obtain driver’s licenses mostly in Virginia by lying on their applications, however they would had gotten just a fine if caught then.** Those loopholes have been plugged since then** and it is more difficult now for a **legal **resident to get a license.
According to the 9-11 report, the real security issue is that some of the hijackers should not have been issued visas nor permitted to enter the U.S. Once here legally it was not difficult to get driver’s licenses (like some did in California) or to lie to get driver’s licenses elsewhere, their legal visas facilitated the process. Neither the 9-11Commission report nor the staff report suggest that drivers license restrictions for non-citizens would have prevented the attacks.
This is grating on me, and I’m having a hard time putting into words why so. Let me try…
First, legal immigrants who vote are called citizens, and are just as much “real” Americans as I am.
Second, I get the impression that you are labelling Hispanic voters as immigrants. There are Hispanic voters from Texas to California whose ancestors were living there before the United States was a twinkle in Ben Franklin’s eye. Santa Fe, for instance, was founded in 1610 and wasn’t even the first capital of New Mexico. These people are also “real” Americans.
Probably this is not what you meant, and I shouldn’t have bothered to post.
Too late, I became a citizen of the USA thanks to the Amnesty offered by that dirty rotten terrorist Ronald Reagan!
I will always think that Reagan did offer that amnesty specially to Central Americans like me because of his guilt of having supported murderous regimes there.
McCain could not get Bob the Builder so he got Joe the Jerk instead.
Obviously Hispanic citizens of the US are real Americans. My point was trying to explain why some such citizens especially if they are immigrants might identify with Obama’s aunt if she becomes an issue. It’s because immigration involves broader issues like race and culture and isn’t just about the technicalities of immigration status.
I don’t think any backlash will be signifcant but then neither will any possible gain for McCain from this issue. Ultimately from the pov of the election I think it’s a non-issue.
I think it is too little too late as well. This reminds me of the Bush DUI arrest which was leaked right before the election. I’d imagine people in states which are in play have reached election fatigue by now.
I think it’s very unlikely this will cost Obama the election, but it is most definitely a very big deal. I’m quite sure it will sway a number of undecideds against Obama, and as John Mace said, this is a very emotional topic for some people. There’s a very large number people with an irrational fear of illegal aliens living in America. I wouldn’t be surprised if this puts all the remaining swing states back to McCain. Luckily, I think Obama still has enough EVs to win.
There are a lot of things it seems to you. Most of them have been consummate bullshit.
I want to see the INS worker or government official who leaked this (in violation of the law) get a nice good smacking-down. Information about this stuff isn’t for public consumption, for obvious reasons.
And it’s not like she jumped the fence or anything. Her visa expired and she hasn’t left yet. It is illegal to do so, but she wasn’t in the country illegally in the first place.
And I’m with the people who think this is going to not be a big deal. One, it broke over the weekend. Nobody’s paying attention except us political junkies. Second, he met her for what, a day or two when he was very young? It’s not like she’s his beloved auntie who baked him pie or whatever aunties bake in Kenya. She’s his (long estranged and now dead) father’s half-sister.
Thanks for the info. Assuming that is all accurate and paints the complete picture, delete mention of 9/11. It wasn’t a central point to my suggestion.
The economy is facing potential meltdown, the US is involved in two wars, there are real, fundamental, differences in how the two sides want to approach serious issues like taxes, healthcare, etc, and we are supposed to care whether Obama’s aunt (aunt!) is here illegally?
This is beyond stupid.
I saw the headline on CNN.com this morning and didn’t even click on it because I thought it was a stupid non-issue. I am honestly shocked to see this in GD, and even more shocked to see people that think “this is a big deal”. No, it is not.
There was a time when whites in the South addressed every black woman of a certain age as “Auntie” and an elderly black man as “Uncle,” terms at once affectionate and dismissive – the age-appropriate equivalent of “Boy.”
No, it’s also illegal for the campaign to accept donations from non-citizens. The relevant statutes don’t specify a $ limit on it, the acceptable amount is $0.
“The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) prohibits any foreign national from contributing, donating or spending funds in connection with any federal, state, or local election in the United States, either directly or indirectly. It is also unlawful to help foreign nationals violate that ban or to solicit, receive or accept contributions or donations from them.”
Frankly, Obama’s Kenyan relatives seem like the polar opposite of the welfare deadbeats the Republicans hate so much. Both his half-brother and his aunt have now been shown to be living in pretty austere conditions, but neither one has asked for (obviously, or Obama would have interceded in both of their lives, I’m sure) nor (from interviews with his half-brother, anyway) would accept help from their world-famous quite-comfortable-thank-you-very-much relative.